Responses (70)

I am not a fan of si-fi, however, when I was growing up I read a lot of si-fi. From my reading, I think H.G.Wells is the best science fiction, writer. The Time Machine and War of the World's, Invisible Man are really good books. Among the modern si-fi writers, I like Issac Asimov. I have not read his books, but have watched movies based on Assimov's books.

I am not a Science Fiction fan either, but Stephen King kind of blended Sci Fi and Horror with his book Cell that I liked a lot. Ray Bradbury had some good sci fi novels also. Farenheit 451 is one I remember.

you just named one of my favorites, Stephen King just got this way of writing that keeps me amazed, I have never read any of his books that I never enjoyed with my favorite being cujo and now It. He his always the seeked raven lol.

Unfortunately, alot of King's most recent stuff is no good. There is a lot of excessively wordy dialogue in them and things that are not integral to the story, so I would recommend staying with the older stuff..although Cell was pretty good.

H G Wells had very limited number of the scifi compared to lovecraft. But both of them were famous. I recommend reading lovecraft's books too. He had introduced some of the really good fiction. And it was fun reading all that.

Lovecraft? I have never heard of this name. As a kid I read a lot of H G Wells books and I really liked them. I never picked up reading si-fi genre, I was never interested in science and technology even though I was reading science fiction as a kid. I was more interested in adventure, therefore, I liked RL Stevenson more. When I grew up, my interest changed, I began enjoying non-fiction.
I have also read a couple of Asimov's science fictions.

Stephen King is a popular writer, however, I have never read anything from Stephen King. Since most of the books by Stephen King are already adapted for the screen I do not have to read Stephen King's books. By the way, I did not realize Stephen King also wrote sifi, I thought he only write's horror and thriller.

Yeah, he writes sci-fi as well, and in a way, some of his horror and thriller books have a certain science-fiction slant to them. He writes novels and short stories for sci-fi - The Running Man and the Skeleton Crew collection are just some that I can think of off the top of my head.

He is mainly a horror writer, but some of his books like Cell in particular have a real SCi Fi bent. Cell was good. I guess if I was going to pick a favorite SCI Fiwriter it would be Bradbury though or even maybe Rod Serling.

Even though I have not read anything from Stephan King, I know he is popular as a horror writer. I did not know he also wrote si-fi. When I was a kid, I liked reading sifi but as I grew older, I lost interest in sifi genre. The only sifi books that I read as an adult are from Asimov. I have read his Foundation series.
I like watching sifi movies though. I like the CGO in sifi movies.

I don't like reading horror , therefore, I have never read Stephan King. However, I enjoy watching horror, thus, I have watched many movies based on Stephan books and stories. Even though I have read and watch si-fi, I don't like reading sci-fi stories or watching si-fi movies. Until now I did not realize that King was also author to si-fi genre.

Yeah, I guess horror works more when watching movies since it can involve more of your senses compared to reading. Watching sci-fi stories transformed into live action is actually a treat though when done right, especially in futuristic stories or when dealing with intergalactic civilizations, since part of it is seeing how the world looks compared to how it is described in the book, in addition to the effects they use to simulate the futuristic gadgets that people are going to use.

Arthur C. Clarke for me. Known for his space odyssey series, particularly the novel 2001, which has become one of the most influential science fiction novels ever written. and was also a wildly popular movie.

My favourite SF writer is by far J.K. Rowling. I love the Harry Potter series, the writing is so detailed oriented and her imagination is mind blowing. No wonder why Harry Potter has become the most popular SF movie. But the books are better than the movies, so many details that are not visible in the movie but you can work with your imagination and bring them to life.

I agree with you that the books are better than the movies. Many events aren't even captured in the movies which is logical but still a shame. I only really read the first two Harry Potter books and I did enjoy her style of writing but it just got too complicated for me.

I think that the genres are getting confused here. I would categorize the Harry Potter books as fantasy and technically not science fiction. Science fiction stories, comic books, novels, and graphic novels all share a common characteristic of being focused on the issues of impending technology and how humans interact with the issues which arise from futuristic technologies and their own sense of an ethical or moral order. There are often spaceships, time travel, robots, advanced A.I., sometimes aliens, etc., and this is different from a genre, from the most part, full of wizards, dragons, giants, and griffins, so to speak.

I also believe that Harry Potter books are not sifi books. These are fantasy. There is no element of science on Harry Potter books. There is magic and magic is very different from science. In order to categorize a book as sifi, there should be an element of science and technology.

Sure concepts like magic and such can be involved in science fiction (such as the Force in Star Wars, before the prequels chalked it down to midichlorians anyway) but that goes into the realm of fantasy sci-fi then.

Many people confuse science fiction with fantasy. The basic difference between the fantasy and science fiction is science fiction uses logics but fantasy is pure imagination. Science fiction is about science and technology and fantasy is about magic

I like Harry Potter, the books and the movies, but the Harry Potter in books are much more better than to the movies. But I think Harry Potter is not a sci-fiction, yeah, it's a fiction, but I think it's more on fantasy and not science.

J K rowling is a fantasy writer. There is nothing science about her writing. I think you confused magic with science. Science fiction movies are like alien, predator and others. Because fantasy movies are on magic and stuff.

Stephen King without a single doubt. I absolutely love his work and all of his books are just so, so superb. His writing style is unique and his ability to truly captivate the reader is what I like the most. His books make you feel... whether it's terror, scariness, or something else. He's my number one for sure.

Yeah, your're right about that, I really like how Stephen King write the story. No wonder why some of his books became a movies and box office. His wide imagination makes the readers think that they are one of the character in the story.

I think Stan "The Man" Lee and Jack Kirby can be lined up as 2 of the best authors since they created The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and The Uncanny X-Men. He also co-created Dr. Strange and The Amazing Spiderman.

I am so glad to hear and see a post about Jack Kirby! He is absolutely one of my heroes! He, I think, inspired me as a child to start drawing my own comics. His Atlantean and New Gods saga were pure genius and chronicled such a cosmic storyline that it totally blew my mind and still does today! I know that this series and scope of his work is not as popular as more of his mainstream characters who he created with Stan Lee, but I think that these books should really be appreciated, in terms of the sci-fi drama, and re-visited for their ideas and concepts.

My favorite science fiction writer would be J.k Rowling. Well we all know who she Is, She is behind of the famous book Harry potter series and In my own opinion, It is one of the greatest books thas been published. And also, It's movie adaptation is one of the best that I've ever seen. I really loved harry potter series. Her imagination is extraordinary and uniques. I will look forward to her future works.

Harry potter is categorized under Fantasy and Magic genre. Scifi has nothing to do with J K Rowling. Harry potter has complete fantasy plots as they deal with the magic. Anything that deals with magic is in fantasy. Like say lord fo the rings etc.

H.P Lovecraft had some of the good books. And he created the concept of cthulu which was later adopted by the many people. I think even the strangers things TV series makes use of that concept. And it seems to be a lot of interesting stories are there in the book. I'd definitely recommend you to check out the books of the scifi author such as him.

I've always liked Ray Bardbury's work since I read Fahrenheit 451 in high school. There was something about the atmosphere in that story that really stuck with me, and I thought about it constantly after reading it. I picked up his book The Martian Chronicles while I was in college, and I couldn't remember being as entertained by a novel as I was with his in a long while. Several chapters had me laughing out loud, which is something I've only known David Sedaris to be able to do.

TheArticulate,
I always enjoy your posts! That being said, I too have loved Ray Bradbury since I was a child. It is also good to hear someone reference Sedaris as well. In any case, I loved the fantastic situations and worlds that Bradbury's writing and characters could introduce me too. I also loved his concept of the hero and morality versus those who were abusing power through military might or tyranny. He was obviously a genius. Fahrenheit 451 obviously comes with its own political commentary in a dystopian world--the temperature at which books burn is the temperature at which our freedoms fall apart!

Thank you! I always enjoy the amount of thought you put into your posts as well.

I think a lot of Fahrenheit 451 was lost on the junior-in-high-school me, and I've been meaning to revisit it again to refresh myself on it. One of the things that's stuck with me these years is Bradbury's use of opposites to describe the world. The instance that stands out to me was a robotic dog, I think, which he described as being both alive and not alive at the same time. He carried that theme throughout the novel, and I found that really interesting.

I am an old fashion guy since fiction is not my favorite domain but I did read the most books of Jules Verne when I was a kid so I would say that he is my favorite since I haven't read anything so good.

My favorite science fiction writers are Purpleyhan and AWerewolfBoy, their writing skills are so amazing that I kept imaging myself in the movie while I am reading their works. Tha's how powerful their descriptive skills are to the point that I dreamed about their works because the feelings are surreal. Especially in the thrilling parts where I can imagine my heart beating so fast as if I am the characters.

One of my favorites is the late Gene Roddenberry, he created Star Trek, and the father of all trekies. If you think about it the concept alone, let alone the number of cast and characters involve is a gargantuan task. Gene Roddenberry was a true vissionary able to think of such advance ideas as the hand held telecommunication and GPS devices akin to the modern Smartphone and tablets in the mid 1960's.

I really love Phillip K. Dick the most, I think. He envisioned a future that is in the process of quickly becoming a reality in such a strange and uncanny way. It is almost as if he were some sort of strange prophet, to a degree. I also love Isaac Asimov and great deal, and also William Gibson for his cyberpunk stories and the way he changed the genre forever with his work. I also like the classics from Jules Verve, H.G. Wells, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. I grew up reading the Martian Chronicles and Ray Bradbury and I have fond memories of that and of Flash Gordon and comic books with science fiction themes as well.

Neil Gaiman is one of the best in science fiction writing. His work in American Gods is pure genius. I love his unique style of mixing sci-fi with mythology. His other masterpieces include Stardust and Neverwhere.

Kakashi2020,
Yes! I love Gaiman and his stuff. I got to meet him years ago at the Atlanta Comicon, and he was an awesome person and very nice and accommodating about signing my book. I really loved his work when he was writing for the Sandman graphic novel series! I also really enjoyed and appreciated his work on the American Gods series. Great choice here, and now you are making me want to go back and read even more of his stuff and to re-read the old stuff again.

When it comes to science fiction I'd go to James Frey. But lately I've been reading non-fiction books which lead me to know Richard Bach. I love the book that I read it's entitled, Illusions. I just got this book out of curiosity in booksale. Bought it around 50 pesos or $1. It didn't disappoint me as I was reading the book. I finished it one night which left me want to read more of his books. But since he's an international writer it would be hard for me to look for his books.

My favorite science fiction writer is James Cameron. He a Canadian director, a philanthropist and a writer. He is known for his crafts in film making industry such as Terminator, Aliens and Avatar. He is a legend. I used to watch his crafts. Lately what captured me the most is the message brought by a science fiction movie, Avatar. It is very relevant. What it tends to inculcate in our minds is that nature when turned into dust, humanity would go extinct. Mutual relationship between mankind and nature should remain.

The movie has brought many of its viewers in a world where nature is very concerned to Avatars, to humans. It is very saddening knowing the fact that despite of nature being kind to mankind, still some of us hurt and even eradicate our its resources.

James Cameron has made movies which are very relevant nowadays. See how much he put too much values to his crafts that even me has been persuaded to become an agent of change for the environment and to be aware with today's evolving technologies.

I agree with you when it comes to James Cameron, but there's a caveat to that.

Some of his work was either directly lifted from someone else, or heavily inspired almost to the point of plagiarism, depending on who you ask. I prefer the latter explanation and here's why. If you wait for the end credits on The Terminator, you'll see "With recognition to the work of Harlan Ellison" which basically means that Ellison needed to get credit for his contribution to the story, which is loosely based off of his short story "Soldier." Go look it up. The effect is thematic, with a soldier from the future coming back in time to warn humanity about the machines. Then we have cut-scenes from which Cameron directly borrowed imagery for his post-apocalyptic vision.

The first author that came to mind was HP Lovecraft but I am not really sure he would be considered pure sci-fi and maybe is more horror or mystery, but either way he is up there. To be honest I am having some difficulty thinking of some others outside of the big ones.

My favorite science fiction writer is Isaac Asinov. I love his idea of writing the story Galactic Empire. It's a futuristic type which predicts the advancement of technology which Galactic Empire in another planet could be formed. It is also connected with his other written works such Robots and Foundation series. They are really amazing to read.

I have read this piece Galactic Empire and it's really a good work but I actually didn't know that the writer was Isaac Asinov. He did quite well with his insight in the work Galactic Empire. Should I be rating the work, it would be getting at least a minimum of 8/10.

I'm not exactly the biggest fan of fictional writing, but I have read my fair share of science fiction books while I was in school. As schools often do, we had mandatory reading assignments, and I would always choose works of science fiction because I found them to be the most tolerable to read.

I loved the works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and I've read all of their most popular novels. As I went on to high school and college, I became a fan of Isaac Asimov's work, as his books always felt like the "thinking man's" science fiction to me.

I personally don't think that there would be any better sci-fi writer like this man H.G.Wells. His works are out of this world and exceptionally excellent. There are good sci-fi experts writers out there but to be honest with you, H.G.Wells is well placed on the top charts of the best in the business.

H.G. Wells is wonderful. I picked a copy of The Invisible Man while I was on vacation several years back and blasted through it on the long drive home. I couldn't put it down. I loved the fact that it was a science fiction novel at heart, but it had an element of horror to it too, in the way the invisible man acts and what his intentions were after turning himself invisible.

TheArticulate,
Oh yeah! I read this when I was a bit younger, and it definitely had a terribly macabre feeling to it and scarred me quite a bit. I saw a movie based on this as well, not too long ago, and it was also horrifying, but not scary as the book, lol. Hg. Wells wrote a lot of great classics, such as War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, Island of Lost Souls, etc. I like his work a lot, but when I read about his personal politics and how viewed humanity overall, I was a bit disappointed.

I don't really have a favorite one, because it's very hard just to choose one, so I'm just gonna go with Isaac Asimov. His work is still being used to this day, not only as fiction, but as ideas that can be used in real work too. His fiction is amazing, probably every person who is interested in this genre should read his books and they most likely have, but if you haven't, definitely give it a go.

I watch sci-fi movies but I've never been a fan of sci-fi books. but I've read a particular sci-fi series from one author. His name is Patrich Tomlinson. and I liked it. So, I'll say that he is my favorite science fiction writer.

Tolkien seems to be the man of the hour these days. I'm not sure if people even know how significant his work is to the success of "Game of Thrones." Despite most, if not all, of his books being incredibly long, they're so rich in details that you could get lost in the story world.

There are just so many of them I love if I must confess, they do know how to go about it in their own imaginative ways. Firstly I will go with Edgar Allen Poe this dude is superb, he just gets you turning pages. then Virginia Woolf, she's my favorite from light house to others she made my mind think every ways. Stephen King, Jane Austen, Tom Holt, Alice Walker,Nnedi Okorafor all of them made me catch and feel the magic each time I pick any of their works to read, I never get tired to re-read them and there are still more, I guess I have the most favorites in here.

So far my favorites are JK Rowling of Harry Potter and George RR Martin of Game of Thrones. I love how they write their books. It's full of imagination and lots of twists too. They really think it through what to write and what not to write so for me they are not just a writer but a good writer. I hope they can come up again with blockbuster good books so it will have a chance to be shown in cinemas or TV.

George RR Martin of The Game of Thrones fame is one novelist that I admire, I mean conjuring the world of Westeros and it's 7 kingdoms along with the different people and diverse ethnic backgrounds up to their traditions and socio political hierarchy, this guy's a genius.

In the spirit of writers getting their published work adapted to film, I'd say Michael Crichton. Yes, Jurassic Park was a hit and Congo was not. But his best work for me, an interesting book, and a good movide adaptation, was Sphere. It starred Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, and Samuel L. Jackson and one of the best sci-fi films ever made. If you are a sci-fi movie fan and have not watched this yet, please get a copy now.

Another writer which inspires me is Gene Roddenberry of Star Trek fame. Unknown to many, he also authored a lot of good titles like Have Gun, Will Travel and The Lieutenant which where made into TV series which was written prior to Star Trek.